Lessons from the Al Pacino of fundraising
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I often describe Alan Clayton as the Al Pacino of fundraising. When he speaks you hang on his every word, and he leaves you believing that anything is possible.
Now he has launched his first book, “Great Fundraising Organisations” this is a moment to savour. Because the stories, inspiration and insight in this book are like gold dust for fundraisers and charity leaders.
I attended the launch of his book in London last week. So I want to share five powerful insights that I took away.
Biggest barrier to fundraising success
Alan has worked with Professor Adrian Sargent over the last 10 years to discover why and how charities succeed at raising money. Their research revealed that the biggest barrier to fundraising success is, “internal conflict that leads to consensus driven compromise.”
If you work in fundraising then you’ve probably experienced this. I once worked with a charity where the marketing team had made a decision that they only shared positive stories about their service users. Even though I explained that we needed to share the problems that people face to engage potential corporate partners, they refused to budge. This internal resistance reduced the power of their stories which made it hard to build partnerships.
Internal conflict is draining. It wastes huge amounts of time, energy and money. Every time a fundraiser meets it their morale drops, and they believe a little bit less in what the they are trying to do. Ultimately it causes talented fundraisers to leave.
Two separate businesses
Alan explained that this conflict is inevitable because charities consist of two separate businesses:
- The one that meets the needs of service users.
- The one that meets the needs of donors.
The first business is all about reputation. They focus on the solution, details and avoiding risks.
The second business is all about the problem and purpose. They focus on achieving targets, keeping it simple and taking risks.
When we spell it out like this we can see why these two internal businesses are often at logger heads.
Alan’s advice is simple, “Be the best at both. Build respect and co-operation between the two businesses.”
The power of a new ambition
When Jayne George joined RNLI in 2018 their fundraising had flatlined. She new that they needed a new ambition to inspire and engage their colleagues and donors.
They worked with Alan and his team at Revolutionise International to find a fresh and engaging way of expressing their purpose. They involved the volunteers who work on the lifeboats and their shared stories about saving lives at sea. And the inspirational purpose that emerged was, “To save every one.”
From this ambition they crafted new communications that reignited their fundraising. And the results were incredible! Fundraising income grew from £182million in 2018 to £260million in 2026 (42% growth in eight years).
As Jayne says, “If you produce inspirational communications they inspire everybody.”
Trustees who get investment
Trustee support is essential for fundraising success. This is because they manage risk, they can make introductions to their contacts, and they ultimately decide where the charity invests its money.
Investment in fundraising is crucial. Look at the figures achieved by RNLI over the last eight years. Indeed, on page 12 of his book Alan shares 12 graphs showing charities that achieved transformational growth. This is why he says, “you don’t need fundraisers on your board you need people experienced in investment.”
I had coffee this week with a charity trustee who worked in investment banking. He said he believes in the power of investment in fundraising because the return is incredible. Interestingly there are other trustees on that charity board who have experience in investment too, and they have just decided to invest more in growing fundraising.
Collective energy
Once you have your new ambition you can use it to get your colleagues fired-up and united to raise the money. Achieving transformational growth depends on people that show-up because they have focus and energy.
I have seen this with my own eyes. When I was at Alzheimer’s Society we doubled fundraising income in four years. We were so focused and energised you could see it in our eyes. There was a recession going on in the outside world, but we were still achieving transformational growth.
When you have focus and energy you move faster and more efficiently. As Alan observes, “Pace transforms performance.”
Conclusion
Alan’s book is one of the most important events that has happened in my 28 years in fundraising. I hope these insights encourage and inspire you to be great at fundraising and drive transformational growth.
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